Missing son
by stevebond1990
Summary: Harry Potter has been missing for ten years, believed dead. What happens when his name comes out of the Goblet of Fire and a visiting Canadian steps up.
1. Chapter 1

Missing Son

Harrison 'Harry' Phoenix stared out of the window as the flying boat passed another small island in the middle of the Atlantic, clutched in his hand was the latest letter from his girlfriend, Penelope Clearwater, who had just written to tell him that her ex was at Hogwarts for the Tri-Wizard Tournament and was causing problems, mostly by harassing her by trying to convince/force her to take him back.

He was currently thinking of any way to make the fool back off without cursing or killing him. But Percy Weasley was stubborn and perhaps stupid, maybe ignorant and arrogant were better.

It had all started a year before when Penny had come to the Vancouver Academy of Magic as part of an exchange programme the ICW had restarted, she had been a fifth year then and was the female Prefect for Ravenclaw house chosen for the trip. Weasley had been her boyfriend and she had really fallen for him, only for him to break up with her via owl post after a week there, some rubbish about long distance relationships not working and that she should have consulted him before going and that he couldn't date a girl that didn't respect her boyfriend's wishes.  
He'd found her at the top of the cliff overlooking the lake crying, he'd approached her and asked what was wrong.

"_Excuse me, are you alright? Why are you crying?" Harry asked as he approached the girl sitting far too close to the cliff edge.  
"I'm fine I just want to be left alone," the girl replied, glancing briefly at the approaching Canadian.  
"It's not safe this close to the cliff," Harry told her, a little worried by that fact and that she was also crying.  
"I… I just want to be alone," the girl repeated between great sobs._

_Harry walked over and knelt next to her, conjuring a handkerchief. "Do you want to talk? It may help and I'm a good listener," he said as he gave her the handkerchief. "I'm Harry, Harry Phoenix."_

_The girl turned to him, giving him a look of uncertainty and disbelief. "Penelope Clearwater, Thank you" she said as she took the small cloth square and wiped away her tears._

_Harry now took in her appearance: she had curly brown hair that fell past her shoulders, bright hazel eyes behind rectangular frameless muggle glasses, high cheekbones and a delicate jaw, a large bust, wide hips that implied a shapely behind and long shapely legs. She wore the black Hogwarts robe over a uniform consisting of a white button up shirt, a navy blue V-neck jumper over it with a blue and bronze pattern on the neck and cuffs, a blue and bronze stripped tie, a grey pleated skirt that went to knees, black tights and black leather shoes._

_After she stopped crying, Harry asked her what made her cry, but only if she wanted to and at her own pace. She gave him a small, grateful smile and gave him a simple explanation of her previous relationship and the break up message._

_As she told him of the letter, she started crying again. Harry instinctively pulled her into a hug and began rubbing gentle circles on her back, whispering words of comfort into her ear as she sobbed into his chest. It helped but wasn't enough as she still gently sobbed into him several minutes later, so he started to sing softly.  
His animagus form was a phoenix and he had been gifted (or cursed perhaps) with the use of the abilities of his form while still human. When he sang, his song affected all around him like phoenix song._

_He watched her as his song seemed to wash away her pain, watching as her tears ended and a small smile replace them by the time he finished._

_When he finished, she looked into his eyes, "How did you do that?" she asked, curios about his unusual power.  
He smiled gently, "maybe I'll tell you one day, but not today. We'd better head back or someone will think we're missing, do you want to be friends Penelope?" He said, rising to his feet and holding his hand out to help her up.  
"I think I'd like that," she replied, smiling softly as he helped her up._

_They walked back to campus together, talking about their subjects and schools, unaware that this was the beginning of a wonderful friendship and later something more._

Their first date had been seven months later and that was four months ago now, the first letter since she went home told him of how Percy had tried to talk her into taking him back in the great hall, his reaction to being told that she had a new boyfriend had apparently been priceless, Harry had in fact received two letters from Percy's younger siblings Fred and George congratulating him on setting Percy up for such public humiliation. Harry had sent a reply requesting they finish the job, which had been enthusiastically accepted and led to the beginnings of a new friendship.

When told that Penelope had a new boyfriend; Percy couldn't seem to comprehend at first, neither understanding how Penny would _want_ another boyfriend especially one that deeply cared for her and went out of his way to make their relationship work, but also that Penny was now dating a foreign half-blood instead of a native pureblood.  
He then became furious, with himself or Penny isn't known, and immediately started to insult her in front of the entire school; saying that he should have known she was a slut, that she didn't care about others only herself, and finally that only a Mudblood whore would be stupid enough to throw away their patron.

Silence fell over the hall after his outburst, before the teachers could move muggleborn students and their friends started cursing him from all directions, even some half-blood Slytherins had attacked, it took the intervention of all the teachers to keep him from being killed.  
He'd woken up three days later to find his furious parents beside his bed and his livid head of house glaring at him.  
Public opinion was that if he hadn't completed his NEWTs already he would have been suspended and stripped of his Head boy status as there was only a week left the decision had been taken to expel him, not that it would really matter then.

Penny had next seen him on Platform 9 ¾ at Kings Cross where he tried again but had been humiliated again as dozens of parents heard of Percy's outburst from both Penny and Fred and George who discussed it in loud voices before Penny informed everyone present that she will never date Percy again and that she was a fool to do so in the first place if he couldn't even be bothered to break up with her in person.

The Weasleys had to quickly leave before the large number of angry parents and students lost their tempers. An unexpected side effect was the incident had strained the Weasley's relationship with the Potters.

The Potters were famous as the family that defeated You-Know-Who (or Voldemort to anyone with a pair), the dark lord had sought out the family and tried to kill the two youngest children, Evan and Isabella, but the curse had backfired supposedly killing him. Their Parents Lily and James had been forced to witness the attempted execution after being disarmed and immobilised, and had watched in horror as their older son Harry had put himself between his siblings and Voldemort. Given the respective heights of the two it didn't matter and the curse seemed to sail over Harry's head and hit the twins. The rest is history.

The fame that followed the family at first threatened to destroy the family, nearly everyone fawned over the twins ignoring the fact Harry's attempt to protect the twins may have contributed to you-know-who's downfall because the twins were named the Twins-Who-Lived and solely credited with the monster's defeat. This meant Harry was often pushed aside, something that Lily and, to a lesser extent, James had objected to, until they had discovered Harry possessed unusual powers.

He could disappear and reappear at will, he'd first done this during a terrible storm and had landed on his parents after being frightened, in a manner very different to apparition, he also had an ability to saturate his voice with magic, a lullaby for his sister had sent his parents two rooms over to sleep too, he was also very strong and agile for his age.

The decision was made to keep Harry out of the public's eye, the discovery had dramatically improved his home life and for the first time since that night, he was treated as an equal to his siblings.

However the public now believed Harry Potter had fallen ill or even died as he hadn't been seen in nearly ten years or was a squib. The reality was very different.

What had begun as a family outing had turned to disaster, Harry had been with his family on a shopping trip in Diagon Alley when they'd been separated. He'd been waiting outside the bookshop when a Canadian couple noticed him, after calming the panicking child they had decided to alert the Aurors when the child had been engulfed by a black aura and started screaming in pain. The couple could only watch as the black aura suddenly became entwined with a white aura and the child glowed, the glow and both auras ended to reveal a small featherless phoenix chick.

The couple knew what the black aura meant, at his age the boy should be dead but instead was sitting on the doorstep as a tiny and vulnerable phoenix.

The boy's family had disowned him.

Being disowned normally would separate a person's magic from the Families magic, but when a pre-Hogwarts child is disowned it usually destabilises the child's immature magical core, which kills the child. However, an animagus that can turn into a magical animal shares that animals abilities and in some cases possesses two magical cores, one human the other is based on the magic of the creature.

They are completely separate until the first transformation, after that they begin to merge in a symbiotic bond and eventually form a type of hybrid core.

The magic used to disown someone only affects the wizard's core, mages and sorcerers are unaffected as are werewolves, vampires, Veela, etc. because they are based on a different form of magic and even a hybrid core would be unaffected.

The boy had survived by accessing the phoenix core and transforming. The child was now totally reliant on a nonhuman magical core and, at the least, would be affected by the Phoenix burning cycle.

The child now had no family, no one to return to. The couple decided to adopt him.

He had been taken into Gringotts and kept there until his phoenix form was mature enough for him to turn back. When he did, the magic that hurt him was explained to him. The three were also told that due to ancient pureblood laws that had been woven into most Family magics he could not be formally adopted until he reached maturity, 16 due to the age of the laws involved, he also had to wait that long before any remaining inheritances could be claimed.

On the plus side, Harry was now legally emancipated and was considered an adult, could perform magic outside of school as long as it complied with the International Statute for Secrecy and could own and live in any property.

The Canadians, Alexander and Marie Delacour offered him a home until he finished school, Harry accepted. They'd given him a good home and a loving family, he never forgot his birth family though; at first cursing them, later wondering why, before finally becoming indifferent.

He'd been enrolled in the Vancouver Academy of Magic and had excelled in most of his classes, in fact he'd been advanced from his third year to fourth, but due to his condition had found he couldn't compete in most of the extra-curricular activities like quidditch or duelling contests. He wouldn't be able to take such professions as an Auror or Professional quidditch player either, so he'd set his sights on becoming a curse breaker.

He was currently in his sixth year and had been chosen to accompany his older classmates to Hogwarts where the Tri-wizard Tournament was being held. Vancouver weren't allowed to compete but had been included in an attempt to improve international relations.

He was now sitting with his friends on a Short C class flying boat, which was flying to Hogwarts. The aircraft had been extensively enchanted to increase the size of the interior and to allow it to 'hop' great distances in a manner similar to apparition. The interior was comfortable and blended the Art Deco styling of the thirties with modern influences, every student had an individual cabin and there was even a small gym and a dining hall and even a rec room.

Harrison was brought out of his thoughts by his three best friends, Anthony Mercer, Valerie Royeaux and Hayley Jalvert sitting down in the empty seats beside him.

"What do you think Hogwarts will be like?" Valerie asked, very curious as she'd never been to Britain before.

"A cold, drafty medieval castle full of bigots," Anthony replied, he had been to Britain before and hadn't been impressed by the purebloods attitudes or blatant prejudice.

"I think the bigots will be a minority," Harry said evenly, having spent his early childhood in Britain he knew the prejudiced pureblood families were indeed now the minority, a powerful one however. "Just don't go ruffling any feathers, Tony, those bigots form a powerful force in the British Ministry," he warned, hoping his stubborn friend will heed his advice.

"Really though, what will it be like? I heard Beauxbatons is like the palace of Versailles," Valerie pressed, partly from her own curiosity and partly from trying to see why Harry would know so much.

"Probably a medieval castle with several floors and a few dozen secret passages next to a large lake flanked on one side by a thick pine forest and a small village about half a mile away that the older students are permitted to visit," Harry said in a bored voice that completely surprised his friends.

"How in Tarleton's name did you know that?" Anthony exclaimed.

"I read," Harry replied dryly, making the girls burst into a fit of giggles at his face. "And it's 'How in _Merlin's_ name'" he corrected, again straight faced.

Hayley fell off her chair and burst out laughing while Valerie was now holding her ribs, wheezing slightly from having laughed to hard as Anthony crossed his arms and huffed.

"Seriously though, I looked the school up as I was sent an acceptance letter," Harry admitted, not adding that it was under another name. "I heard the village, Hogsmeade, is the only Wizard-only settlement in mainland Britain and pretty cool as well," he added, his friends muttered an agreement that they should visit when they had the chance.

He then began telling them about what he knew of the courses: "There are the basic or core subjects Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Herbology, Astronomy, Defense against the Dark Arts, History of Magic and Flying, for the first years. The electives are: Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle studies, Divination and Alchemy."

"But what about Warding, Curse Breaking, Healing and Combat training?" Hayley asked, horrified that such important electives were left out.

"They're a post-Hogwarts education," Harry replied, not happy about that himself.

Hayley looked scandalised that such important higher end electives weren't available, while Valerie giggled quietly at her friend's reaction; Anthony shook his head with an ugly look on his face.

"It's almost like they're trying to prevent people from entering those professions," Anthony said, shocking the two girls.

"How can you say that?" they said in unison, both horrified by the accusation.

"I did hear that the current Potions Master heavily favours his own students, or his own house I should say. Apparently he bends over backwards to get Slytherins through his course but routinely marks down students from the other houses and holds them to near impossible standards, he's supposed to be particularly prejudiced against Gryffindors," Harry told the girls grimly, he knew it wasn't an accusation after having sat in on a class once under a disillusionment charm. He had entertained the idea of transfer in his first two years and wasn't meant to be under the charm but had requested the fourth year student escorting him to apply it so he could observe the lesson without his presence making the professor change his behaviour. The result was both enlightening and horrifying.

The girls stared wide eyed as Harry backed up Anthony's accusation; Anthony himself was also clearly surprised. "How do you know that? I just voiced what my impression was"

"For my first two years I entertained the possibility of transfer, my birth parents went to Hogwarts and I guess I wanted to go to the same school. So just after Christmas in my second year I was sent to Hogwarts to have a tour and see what the classes were like. I sat in several classes as a guest, different years too. The Charms, Transfiguration and Herbology professors were frankly amazing, Potions was a joke. The Potions Master, professor Snape, put the instructions on the board with a nasty 'begin' and started sweeping round the dungeon, praising and even directly assisting the Slytherins while constantly belittling, ignoring and even directly insulting the students from the other houses. I saw seven students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff ask for help and be ignored or insulted or even punished, while being polite to the Slytherins or rewarding them for stupid reasons. He was just as bad outside of class too," Harry explained, his voice growing colder as the memories of that disgusting excuse for a teacher rose to the front of his mind.

The girls looked scandalised while Anthony shivered at the thought of being taught by such a biased teacher.  
The four slipped into easy conversation after that, talking about what they _were_ looking forward too, before teasing Harry about taking a tour of Hogwarts broom cupboards with his girlfriend as the aircraft _'hopped'_ again.

500 miles away, Isabella Potter was sitting at the Gryffindor house table in the great hall with her best friends Hermione Granger, her dorm mate, and Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davies, her and Hermione's potions and charms partners, both were Ravenclaws.  
They were currently trying to get a head start on their potions homework but were constantly being distracted by their house mates talking about the Tri-Wizard Tournament and about how attractive the visiting boys and girls will be.

She sighed in frustration as Lavender Brown and Parvati patil started giggling about the chances of snagging a boyfriend from the visitors. Although she did find it curious they were anticipating the students from Vancouver more the Beauxbatons or Durmstrang boys, they spent a long time discussing a particular tall, black haired boy with green eyes who had apparently been snagged by one of the Ravenclaw prefects last year.

They'd been told at breakfast they delegations would be arriving after dinner. But that didn't stop the two girls annoying giggling.

"How are you getting on?" Tracey asked in an annoyingly cheery voice, smirking at her friend

Bella glared at Tracey, "I would be doing better if I could concentrate but between them and you that's impossible," she said.

Tracey opened her mouth to say something back, as Hermione giggled behind her hand and Daphne smiled as she watched, but was interrupted by four boys charging into the hall and virtually diving into seats at the Hufflepuff table, trying hard to hide their laughter before multiple screams and shouts erupted from beyond the entrance hall.

"POTTER!"

Every head in the hall swivelled to the entrance where Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson stood covered in liquefied dragon dung. The hall roared with laughter as Malfoy's face went pink then scarlet (a first for the Malfoy heir) and then started sending curses and hexes with his girlfriend towards the four boys, who blocked and reflected most before disarming and tying both up.

Professors McGonagall, Sprout and Snape were there in a flash, Snape tried to vanish the dragon dung but it was apparently charmed to resist everything he tried. He eventually decided to release the pair and told them to wash it off the hard way. The two teens left muttering and cursing quietly as professor McGonagall shouted after them "Fifty points from Slytherin and two weeks detention each for attacking fellow students and befouling the hall," Snape didn't argue and in fact seemed to agree with the Scotswoman this time which made many students cheer.

Professor Sprout had been interrogating her badgers at the same time, before berating them for the prank and taking a comparable total of house points and a week's detention each.

Professor McGonagall however looked ready to breathe fire. "What do you think you are doing? We have very important guests arriving tonight; this is not the time or the place for your childish antics. 2 weeks detention each with me, as well as that issued by your head of house, don't even think of continuing your pranks after our guests arrive," she scolded, making the four badgers shrink away from her as her temper flared slightly, all nodding their heads quickly in fear.

Isabella smiled as her head of house stared down her brother and his friends: Ernie MacMillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Neville Longbottom, the four had been inseperable since they first met on the train and had gone a long way to continuing their father's legacy. They were unofficially acknowledged as the new-marauders, to the older teachers despair and the Weasley twins annoyance, you couldn't go 72 hrs without a prank going off. The only reason Snape hadn't got Evan expelled was that they, unlike their predecessors, were indiscriminate as to who got pranked and all were in good humour and rarely hurt anyone (if someone got hurt the prank had gone badly wrong).

She looked up to the staff table to see her mother staring at her brother, frowning and shaking her head, Evan was in for a serious lecture tonight.

She turned back to her essay as the hall descended back to its usual level of chatter; she briefly wondered how the delegations would arrive and seriously doubting they would use the train.


	2. Chapter 2

Missing Son

Chapter 2

Harry turned away from his friends, who were still teasing him about Penny, as the headmaster of The Vancouver Academy of Magic Professor Vincent DuBec approached.

"Mr Phoenix, Mr Mercer, Miss Jalvert, Miss Royeaux," he greeted, he was a tall thin man who appeared to be in his thirties but was probably closer to seventy with brown hair, blue eyes and oval glasses. The man was an Arch Mage of the Fire Guild.  
"I was hoping to find the four of you before we landed, I have a special request," he said, looking between them.  
"How can we help, sir?" Anthony replied.  
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will try to make an impression when they present themselves to the Hogwarts students, I would appreciate if you would consent to ensure that we _arrive in style_," he explained, a cunning look adorning his features.  
The four teens exchanged a look and turned back to their Headmaster grinning, "What did you have in mind?"

Lily Potter was leaning against the balcony railing overlooking the training grounds, watching her youngest son playing a game of quidditch with his friends. She was proud of Evan for making friends across all of the houses; even though he was only friends with two Slytherins it had gone a long way to defusing most of the tension between the houses. Her daughter Isabella was sitting on a bench to one side with her friends, watching the game and reading.

Tears filled her eyes as her thoughts drifted to her oldest son, Harry. She knew that she hadn't been the best of mothers, circumstances and outside demands plus the twins had made that impossible, but the memory of what happened still tore her up inside: it had begun as an ordinary trip to the Alley but her memory stops about halfway through the trip, the next thing she remembers clearly is Sirius asking where Harry is and why the tapestry for the family tree had a burn on it.

That was when they realised what they'd done. They'd disowned him.

The Aurors had been brought in and a search of the Alley conducted, nothing came of the search however no one had reported a dead or dying child so it was believed Harry was alive. The Auror Healer had confirmed the use of the Imperious curse in concert with several powerful compulsion charms on both her and James, all were intended to cause them to disown Harry.  
The curse and charms possessed the magical signature of a Death Eater who was believed to have died in Azkaban a year before, Bartemius Crouch Junior.

Inquiries had been made at Gringotts as to Harry's health, Gringotts kept record on all members of pureblood families whether active, disowned or married off due to treaty, they confirmed he was alive and recovering but were legally obliged not to disclose his location. They also informed them that he could be reinstated into the family as he was disowned not disinherited but it could only be done if _he_ desired to do it.

Since that day they'd tried to find him, she'd even taken the position of Muggle Studies teacher in the hope that of meeting him when he arrived at Hogwarts for his schooling, she knew he was still on the Hogwarts register and an acceptance letter had been despatched.

But he never came, under the Potter name or any other and no child with James' looks and her eyes joined the school.

She was distracted from her thoughts by the sight of a large object in the sky ahead of her and saw Hagrid standing at the end of a makeshift runway with two orange batons. By the time Hagrid was in position, most of the students had noticed and were crowding the battlements to watch.

The flying object turned out to be a powder blue stagecoach pulled by white Abraxan horses. The watched as Hagrid waved the coach onto approach before turning around to make a final check the runway was clear, shouting "Clear the runway". He turned back to find the coach approaching too steeply, he tried to wave them into a more shallow vector but was forced to dive out of the way as the coach came in for touchdown.

Lily smiled as she saw most of the students pointing, sharing awed whispers at the size of the coach, when she saw something in the lake out of the corner of her eye. Turning to the lake at the same time as the students she saw an odd basket shaped object with a small mast travelling toward the castle, as she and the students watched, a figure in the basket lowered a telescope they'd been using and shouted towards their feet. The assembled students and teachers watched in amazement as the basket erupted from the water at the head of a ships mast. The ship itself seemed to be a cross between a caravel and a galleon; it also had an eerie look almost as if it was a raised wreck. A signal cannon fired as the vessel sailed into the shallows and dropped an anchor.

Lily then noticed that she was no longer alone, most of her colleagues were now standing beside her, Professor Dumbledore to her left and Professor McGonagall to her right.  
"I believe the delegations for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang have arrived, the Vancouver delegation should not be far behind," Dumbledore announced using a silent _Sonorus_ charm to amplify his voice. "In fact, I believe they are on approach as we speak." He added as a whining drone filled the air.

Everyone craned their necks to spot the source of the drone, their efforts doubled as a strange sound or sounds really joined the drone.

Lily, Dumbledore and McGonagall knew what the other sounds were, it was phoenix song, in fact multiple phoenixes singing together.

The drone and songs increased in volume until, with a roar, a large flying boat passed overhead with four phoenixes flying in formation with it, piping a song to the heavens while leaving a magical trail in their wake. The trails matched the dominant colours of the phoenix, violet for the Royal phoenix, scarlet for the fire phoenix, white for the ice phoenix, dark blue for the storm phoenix. Everyone watched in awe as the aircraft performed a great banking turn over the mountains before looping around to land on the lake. Everyone, even the few visitors looking from the deck of the Durmstrang ship or the stagecoaches windows, watched in fascination as the boat hulled plane came in towards the lake at a shallow angle and throttle back for landing, especially as they saw the phoenixes slow down to keep pace with the large aircraft.

The aircraft touched down in a rainbow of colours as the water thrown up from the landing mixed with the magical trails the phoenixes produced. The aircraft slowed gently in the deeper water, causing the phoenixes to circle rather than keep pace, before entering the shallows at a slow speed and pulling up to a jetty provided for their use.

The phoenixes landed on the wings between the engines as they were shut off, an anchor dropped from the nose and tail and mooring lines thrown to two men waiting on the jetty.

Dumbledore chuckled lightly before announcing their guests would be joining them at dinner, not before.

Lily chuckled lightly at all the students' disappointed faces as they went back to what they were previously doing; she knew that tonight's feast would be a night to remember.

She turned away to go and prepare for her next class, missing the phoenixes climb into the flying boat through a now open hatch.

The Great Hall was alive with the chatter of the excited students that evening at dinner; everyone was swapping rumours about the guests or wondering if Viktor Krum was really among the Durmstrang students.

The hall fell silent as Professor Dumbledore stepped up to the podium.

"The time has come to welcome our guests to Hogwarts, I expect you to treat our guests with the utmost respect and to do everything you can to make them feel welcome," he began but stopped as Mr Filch, who was dressed in a mouldy brown tailcoat, came into the hall and jogged up to Professor Dumbledore.

He whispered something to Dumbledore, who was heard to say "Tell them to wait, tell them to wait," by nearby students.

Dumbledore continued as Filch jogged back to the entrance hall, "And now, I invite you to join me in welcoming our brothers from the north, the students of Durmstrang Institute of Magic."

The doors opened and everyone watched as nearly twenty students in dark red uniforms and heavy furs marched in, several carrying engraved staffs they banged on the floor making sparks fly every other step. They stopped after about twenty paces and banged their staffs twice before switching hands in a blur of motion, and banging the staff down twice, then they broke into a sprint to the end of the hall. As the main body of students reached the front of the hall, the Durmstrang Headmaster, Igor Karkaroff, his assistant and Viktor Krum entered the hall to many audible whispers (and one exclamation from Ron Weasley) of "Viktor Krum?".

Karkaroff walked over to Dumbledore and embraced him in greeting as the hall applauded. "All-bus" Karkaroff said, as he embraced Dumbledore.  
"I trust you had a pleasant trip?" Dumbledore asked.  
"As much as could be expected," Karkaroff explained.  
Dumbledore gestured for the Durmstrang students to take a seat and for Karkaroff and his deputy to be seated at the staff table.

Dumbledore turned around and leapt back up to the podium, "And now I ask you to put your hands together for the lovely ladies and gentlemen of Beauxbatons Academy of Magic," he said before the doors opened again, this time admitting nearly twenty beautiful young women and 4 handsome teenage boys in fine powder blue robes.

The boys split from the girls and went between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff and the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables while the girls walked between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables.

The girls stepped forward in perfect unison of movement, stopping after taking several steps past the ends of the house tables, sweeping their right arms back and sighing, entrancing most of the male population. They took five steps forwards before repeating the action. They then stepped quickly, the girls making sure to draw attention to their shapely bottoms, towards the front end of the house tables, where the first girls conjured a number of sparkling butterflies. They then stepped to the side opposite themselves and formed a single line as their Headmistress followed them, behind an amazingly beautiful blonde girl who performed a pirouette. As the girl went to bow, a single proud note rang from the entrance hall through the still open doors.

A second note sounded as the first faded, followed by two more, then they began to mingle in an unearthly melody. The heavenly melody grew in volume, reaching a crescendo where bright, multi-coloured flames erupted in the doorway and the four phoenixes glided into the hall, piping their song to the heavens and assembled students, leaving a magic laden trail behind them as they passed, just as they had done when flying with the plane.

The four majestic birds flew over a house table each before circling around and flying in front of the line of Beauxbatons students, as each bird reached a height of roughly five feet, the trail of magic behind each bird erupted in magical fire, leaving five students in the pale grey and sapphire blue robes of the Vancouver Academy standing opposite their French counterparts/rivals as well as the Headmaster, Professor DuBec.

Each of the birds rose into the air again, returning to the far end of the hall before banking into a turn and flying down to land on one of the house tables each:

The ice phoenix landed on the Gryffindor table and transformed into a beautiful red haired sixth year with deep blue eyes, soft features and a tall, slender but curvy body. Hayley Jalvert smiled playfully at the mesmerised Gryffindor boys before walking confidently, swaying her hips as she walked, along the table before standing on the end.

The storm phoenix landed on the Slytherin table, transforming into a tall and powerfully built male with hazel eyes, strong features and straight brown hair. He strode down the Slytherin table emitting a presence of power, control and honour while lightning arced between his outstretched fingers and along his arms. Anthony Mercer turned to Hayley when he reached the end of the table, she nodded to him and smiled, his aura had subdued all of the arrogant purebloods and blood supremacists and not one had raised their eyes to look directly at him.

All eyes turned to the royal phoenix that had landed at the Hufflepuff table, which transformed into a beautiful wavy sixth year girl, with wavy dark brown hair that fell to her bottom, bright violet eyes, regal features and a curvy but athletic body. Valerie Royeaux smiled gently as she strode to the end of the table, taking care to project a calming aura. She, Anthony and Hayley looked to the Ravenclaw table and smiled at what they saw.

The fire phoenix had landed on the table just in front of an empty seat next to the sixth year prefect Penelope Clearwater, it had transformed into a tall, thin boy with messy black hair, soft features, and deep emerald eyes that seemed to pierce ones soul. The boy was sitting on the table, his feet on the bench below, holding a single red rose out to Penelope while smiling at her, a smile that was leaving many of the girls (and even the younger female professors) who saw it quite aroused. Penelope smiled back and reached up to take the rose but the boy rolled his wrist and the rose became a magnificent feather, one of his tail feathers made into a quill. Everyone nearby gasped as Penelope took the rare and enchanted gift from her boyfriend; she inspected it for a moment before looking back to him, love and affection shining in her eyes as she smiled at him. He smiled softly and leaned in to her, Penelope leaned up to him, to them sparks flew as their lips touched. The room erupted in whistles and cheers as the couple deepened the kiss, neither wanting it to end. They broke apart, red faced due to the need for oxygen, and noticed the rooms reaction and blushed furiously.  
"Are the trips to the village still on," the boy asked quietly.  
"There's one on Saturday," Penelope replied.  
"Will you do me the honour of escorting you to Hogsmeade Miss Clearwater?" he asked, despite knowing the likely answer.  
"Naturally," she replied, smiling.  
"9:30 in the entrance hall, before the coaches arrive?" he continued.  
"It's a date," Penelope said.  
"I look forward to it, Miss Clearwater," he finished, giving her a kiss on the cheek and rising back onto the table.  
He strode down the table, and joined his smiling friends, they all disappeared in a whirl of flame and reappeared among their classmates.

Professors Dumbledore and DuBec smiled at their antics and made the formal greetings, Madame Maxine congratulated Professor DuBec on a magnificent entrance despite being upstaged, her blonde student however was glaring at Harry from her seat at the Ravenclaw table.

The Beauxbatons students sat at the Ravenclaw table, Durmstrang at the Slytherin table, while the Vancouver students sat at all four tables the largest group were at the Hufflepuff table with Penelope joining her boyfriend.

The hall quickly descended into easy chatter as the feast began. Penelope made the introductions, introducing her 'mysterious' boyfriend to her Hufflepuff friends including Cedric Diggory.

Cedric and his friends quickly came to like the Canadians; they were friendly and funny and didn't discriminate over parentage. Soon they were sharing stories and jokes before Harry spotted a vaguely familiar face, "Who's that girl? The one staring at us?" he asked, nodding at a girl at the Gryffindor table, Cedric turned around in his seat and spotted the girl immediately, who blushed hard and looked down at her meal.

"The one with wavy black hair, hazel eyes and glasses?" Cedric asked, continuing at Harry's nod. "That's Isabella Potter, one of the twins-who-lived,"  
"She fancies Cedric," teased Matthew Baker, one of Cedric's friends. "And he fancies her," he added making Cedric blush and an instinct Harry never thought he'd feel rise rear its head.  
"Do you?" he asked, masking his feelings carefully something his friends and Penny noted.  
"Yeah, but she's untouchable. Half the guys here want to date her, so she turns them down left and right. No one that likes her, I mean honestly likes her for her and not the fame or the family has a chance. She hasn't let anyone near in over a year," Cedric said despondently, his sincerity surprising Harry.  
"What happened?" he asked, his curiosity and that god damned instinct overcoming his lack of desire to learn anything about his birth family.  
"Ron Weasley," Matthew answered. "They were best friends since they were kids, and it stayed that way at Hogwarts for the first two years. They started dating at the start of their third year but he scared off any other male that tried to be her friend even assaulting her lab partner at Christmas. He was tricked into admitting he was only her friend and boyfriend for the fame and any money that came from it."  
Harry scowled as Penny gasped, the Hufflepuffs didn't notice his eyes wander for the aforementioned Weasley.  
"She dumped him in front of the whole school, he tried to force her not to but was hexed from three sides by their friends and his brothers and sister, apparently she cried for two days," Matthew continued.  
Harry's scowl deepened, along with Anthony's and Daniel Hagen's, as Cedric picked up the story.  
"He's now an outcast, he's been locked out of Gryffindor tower more times than anyone's bothered to count, he's a prank target for all four houses and he blames her for his problems and is determined to pay her back for it," Cedric said before adding, "this has left her unwilling to trust her heart to anyone, especially someone she doesn't know."

"You don't know what may happen until you try," Daniel said as he finally zeroed in on Hogwarts Public Enemy number 1, "and I think it's time _someone_ was taught a lesson on how to treat a good woman."

The two Canadians, Hufflepuffs and one Ravenclaw turned to see what, or in this case who, he was looking at. "You can't do anything that hasn't been tried and failed," Matthew said sadly as he watched Weasley shovel enough food for three regular people into his mouth, having greater access to the platters on the table due to no one sitting within ten feet of him.

"You've never seen these two in a vindictive mood," Daniel stated as Anthony and Harry nodded before putting their heads together and started planning.

The two hufflepuffs watched the three Canadians in curiosity at first but this quickly turned to fear as they heard some of the ideas being put forward, even Penelope was frightened despite having witnessed such retribution three times the previous year. The group was unaware that they were being observed by a curious but concerned party.

The frankly terrifying planning continued until the feast finished and Professor Dumbledore stepped up to his podium again.

"Before we bring in the casket, I'd like to say a few words about the Tournament itself," he said, provoking numerous variations of 'Casket?'

"The Tri-Wizard Tournament was established to promote cooperation and friendship between the students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, but was discontinued due to a high casualty count. For this reason, measures are being taken to prevent anyone that is NOT of age from participating."

There was near complete uproar from the older students at this announcement and it took a blast from several teachers' wands to restore order.

"The reason for the restriction is due to the fact younger students will not know enough to safely participate," the aged wizard finished, to muttered dissent, before waving for Mr Filch and his assistants to bring in a large ornamentally decorated box.

The three men set the box down in the centre of the hall in front of the podium.

Dumbledore tapped his wand to the ornate casket which melted away to reveal a wooden goblet brimming with blue fire on a stone plinth.

"The Goblet of Fire will pick the school champions, once the necessary measures are in place any student wishing to participate must write their name and school on a piece of parchment and throw it into the fire. Vancouver students unfortunately cannot participate so a number of friendly contests have been devised and will occur during the school year, details will be released in one week's time after the champions have been chosen," he explained before becoming very serious.

"Entering is not something that should be done lightly, once chosen you are magically bound to compete, there is no backing out," he warned before dismissing the school.

The hall was filled with loud chatter as the students rose from their seats and filed out, most talking about the age limit or wondering where the visitors were staying.

"Are you going to enter?" Harry asked Penny concerned.

"No, even if I wanted to I wouldn't have time with my Prefect duties," she replied, smiling as Harry sighed in relief; she knew he couldn't compete due to his condition.

They got up and went to leave as the crowd around the door thinned; unaware they were being watched by several people.

Harry kissed Penelope goodnight when they reached the entrance hall before leaving for the empire flying boat where his bed awaited him.

His last thought before sleep claimed him that night, was the upcoming week was going to be interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

Missing Son

Chapter 3

Four days had passed since the foreign delegations had arrived at Hogwarts, and it had to be said that there had never been a more eventful four days since the time of the founders:  
The Hogwarts house teams, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students had been challenged to several friendly quidditch games by the Vancouver students, who didn't have a fixed team to allow everyone the privilege of playing (a practice quickly copied by everyone but the Slytherin house team who were humiliated when several unofficial teams sprung up to compete), this led to many fun filled hours and left the students quickly making friends between schools.  
The myth that Krum was invincible was completely shattered by the most talked about foreign student, Harrison Phoenix, who flew Krum into the ground, _literally_.  
He pulled off a Wronskei Feint that left Krum's teammates almost having to dig him out of the pitch, and timing the feint _after_ he'd seen the snitch and keeping a close eye on it in the dive letting him quickly snap it up as Krum recovered, leaving the stadium, and several talent scouts, dumbstruck.

At dinner that day Krum had come over to the Canadian and congratulated him on his victory, even suggesting that he should play professionally. Harry had declined, explaining he had a rare condition that caused his health to fluctuate which meant he couldn't play professionally. Krum had been slightly disappointed but accepted the invitation to sit with them, to certain Gryffindor and Slytherin student's anger.

There was also several small contests in the taught subjects, again Harrison excelled but didn't win most of them, being knocked out in the semi-finals.

Harry was annoyed by the constant whispering that followed him throughout the castle, most were inconsequential but a few times he overheard a whisper about being _'the missing Potter'_, or that James Potter had had an affair, that last somehow made it into the British newspaper _The Daily Prophet _and caused a nasty scandal until the story was retracted a day later and a full apology issued to the family.

He also noticed that several Hogwarts students and teachers were watching him: the first was Isabella Potter, for unknown reasons. The second was her brother Evan, who had overheard the conversation with Cedric and was suspicious of his desire to inflict punishment on his sister's ex. The third was Professor Dumbledore, although that was genuine curiosity about his abilities and that he was getting proper tutoring, Anthony, Hayley and Valerie also had a similar discussion with Dumbledore.

The last two were Professors Potter and Snape; Harry believed his mother was suspicious of his resemblance to her husband, likely not helped by his entrance into the hall. Snape however was an unknown, Harry thought his suspicions were started by his resemblance to the man's childhood enemy but couldn't pin a motive to the former spy's private inquisition.

By the fifth day he was starting to get anxious so he asked Penny to meet him on the flying boat in her free period before lunch. She was amazed at the antique aircraft, most having been pulled from service in the late 40's.

"Wow, Short C-class right? Empire flying boat?" she asked as Harry led her to the hatch.  
"Yeah, not sure where the Empire part came from but I think it's due to the fact these made long distance air travel across the British Empire possible," Harry explained as they went inside, not noticing the crowd of Hogwarts students watching in amazement.

Harry gave her a tour of the plane, showing her the café, the rec-room, the library, the lounge (sometimes you just want to relax), and the gym before leading her to his cabin.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Penny asked as Harry shut the door and set silencing and privacy wards.  
"My identity," Harry replied, his face finally betraying the extent of his concern.  
"You're worried someone will realise?" Penny asked, concerned about how her boyfriend was taking the pressure.  
"I'm worried my name will come out of the Goblet somehow," he explained, "I was disowned not disinherited, they took my heritage but not my name technically I'm still part of the family, legally my name is still Harrison James Phoenix-Potter although only the goblins and my guardians know it."  
"Of course, in Britain disowning cuts you from your magical heritage but doesn't cast you out or eliminate you as a potential heir in case the new primary is killed," Penny sighed, remembering the lessons her grandmother gave her, it was a failsafe implemented by the Ancient and Most Noble families after the number of squibs born started rising, it was undesirable to have a squib inherit but even more undesirable to let the name die altogether unfortunately not many used the new protocol until the forties and most of the less important modern families didn't know the difference, mostly because families like the Malfoy's came from France or Germany where there _wasn't_ a difference.

"So if someone puts 'Harry Potter' into the Goblet?" Penny asked.  
"That probably wouldn't work, but if something was put in that forced the Goblet to correct the name…"  
"The Goblet would spit out your full name," Penny sighed, sinking onto his bed, worried that the boy, no man she loved would end up in this death sentence of a Tournament, but then his comment processed in her mind. "What could force the Goblet to correct itself?"  
"I'm not sure but I fear _The-Boy-Who-Lived_ might do it," Harry replied grimly as Penny stared.  
"Why would _That_ make a difference?" she asked incredulously.  
"Remember those Dementors last year?" Penny nodded as she shivered slightly at the memory. "They made me remember that night; I stood in front of the twins as he fired off a curse. It hit all three of us, I think," he explained, making Penny's shocked eyes slid straight to the lightning bolt scar on his forehead which seemed smaller and paler than she remembered. "The goblins found a horcrux in my scar; it's why it was always inflamed. They removed it over summer, my sight cleared up and I no longer get those low level headaches," he explained to Penny, whose hands flew to her mouth and looked terrified for Harry.  
"A Horcrux?" she asked.  
"The Aurors think he made more, it makes sense as his soul must have been really unstable to break apart like that when his body was destroyed, they just need permission from the ICW to start looking for the rest but Fudge is stonewalling them at every turn," Harry explained, numbly knowing that if Voldemort came back he wouldn't be able to stay out of the next war.

"I think my siblings are curious and that my mother suspects on some level," he said, turning the conversation back to a more comfortable topic, "I doubt they don't know I survived, but I don't know what angle the spy is working."  
"Snape? But what would he gain from it?" Penny asked, confused by the professor's interest.  
"A recruitment target for the dark lord," Harry suggested. "His loyalty was never proven one way or the other and he was rumoured to have told his master something that sent him after my parents. Maybe so he could hold the information over my father, they were butting heads in school and after, especially over my mother. Or maybe he's one of the people who were looking for me ten years ago." he continued as Penny looked thoughtful.

"Or maybe he thinks it will get him into your mother's good graces, they were friends before and during school but he lost her friendship before NEWTs," Penny said, surprising Harry.

"Either way, it's unlikely I won't be discovered," Harry concluded.

"How do you feel about your old family? Will you try to get to know them if they try to make amends?" Penny asked, hoping Harry wouldn't cause a diplomatic incident.  
"I don't," he replied simply, his eyes betraying the truth of this statement. "They abandoned me for some reason; I don't feel anything one way or another. They aren't my family in more than blood. If they try to make amends, if somehow it was a terrible mistake, _THEN_ I'll try to reconnect with them but I can't abandon Alex and Marie, I won't abandon them," he said his voice thickening with conviction toward the end.

Penelope smiled at her boyfriend, his life has always been coloured by the Potter's rejection and had left him afraid of rejection or being abandoned but he'd largely overcome it and he'd remained a good person despite the crap hand life had dealt him.

"Come on we'd better head up to the school or people will spread even worse rumours about us," Penny said playfully, giving Harry a hug as he unlocked the door and leaving with him.  
As they walked back up to the castle, they noticed dozens of students pointing and whispering, Penelope sighed knowing her housemates were likely forming an inquisition already.

The first potions lesson for the Canadians after lunch was a disaster, Snape treated Harry as if he was James Potter launching into a NEWT level and post-NEWT test before belittling him at every opportunity, which led to a mass walkout of students, both Canadian and natives.  
Snape's grudge against James Potter wasn't exactly a state secret as he'd taken it out on the two Potters in school but to force that on someone who just _looked_ like his rival was going too far. DuBec confronted the potions master in the great hall at dinner, backing his case with a projector pensieve when the man tried to BS his way out of the charges leading to uproar from the students and teachers. Dumbledore tried to smooth everything over but DuBec announced he'd called in Confederate Aurors to take Snape into custody and would be pressing charges_ and_ that if Dumbledore tried to save him he'd have Dumbledore recused by force from the case citing a conflict of interest.  
Snape looked to the headmaster in fear as the Confederate Aurors lead him away in handcuffs to the cheers of three quarters of the hall.

Harry and Penny were invited to the celebrations in three common rooms that night; they chose to join the Gryffindor celebrations where Harry was introduced, to everyone's surprise and Penny's amusement, by the Weasley twins.

When asked to give a speech, he said: "Earlier today, we witnessed the downfall of a tyrant. We now have the pleasure of looking forward to the imminent judgment many have only dreamed of, which proves there is both a God and justice in this miserable existence.  
Tonight, we sing, we dance, we drink, for tomorrow… we see the bastard squirm in an ICW courtroom."

Only a few didn't cheer at that, mainly Isabella and her closest friends (a grey eyed girl with black hair, a brown eyed girl with a thick mane of bushy brown curls and the youngest Weasley), the twins and their friend Lee Jordan where naturally the loudest.

He spent the evening getting to know the twins, Lee and the chasers from the quidditch team better before dancing with Penny. The two shared a kiss like the one in the hall four days earlier just before the teachers broke up the party at midnight.

The morning of the sixth day, the entire school was treated to the first of many punishments for Ron Weasley.  
Harry, Anthony, Dan, Penny, Cedric and Matthew were seated at the Hufflepuff table when the _Red Horror_ entered the hall. Penny, Cedric and Matthew had their backs to the Gryffindor table, only the Canadians had successfully been able to ignore his disgusting eating habits long enough to finish a meal. The three Hogwarts students cringed slightly as they heard him begin his meal but managed to continue with their breakfasts, until they heard a shout five minutes later and, against their better judgment, turned around to look at Weasley.

He was sitting at the Gryffindor table staring at the plates in abject horror, he then started turning over the plates, looking underneath them and closely inspecting them.  
The reason? The plates were clean.  
There was no food on any plates in the ten foot radius that _everyone_ maintained around him at meal times.

As they watched, he got up and walked over to where a group of first years sat and, to the fury of nearly everyone watching, tried to bully them into giving up food, only for it to disappear as he reached out his hands.

He jerked back as if his hands had been burned; he saw the missing food reappear on the plates in front of him as he backed away.  
The hall burst out laughing as Ron noticed the food had reappeared on the plates he abandoned but disappeared again when he returned. He spent the next ten minutes, to everyone's amusement including his brothers and sister who had fallen out of their seats laughing, running around the hall trying to find any plate that was unaffected.  
Everyone stopped laughing when Ron wrenched a pair of sausages from the forks of a pair of first year Hufflepuff girls but the sausages disappeared as he went to take a bite and reappeared on the girls plates a few minutes later when he walked away.

The twins and McGonagall decided that enough was enough, the twins took an arm each and frog-marched their brother back to everyone he accosted and made him apologise to all of them before frog-marching him up to McGonagall's office.

Just as they reached the door, a voice shouted _"What do you think you're doing? You can't frog-march a toad."_  
Ron suddenly gave out a loud croak and the twins jumped away from him, his hair had largely fallen out, his skin had turned a mottled dark green and his face was covered in warts. His hands flew to his face, he tried to scream but only let out a long croak as everyone laughed, even McGonagall.  
Ron tried to shout, to demand that whoever did this took it off, but just ended up making a series of increasingly loud and angry croaks. He quickly became a dark greenish brown and went for his wand but it was taken from his hand by one of the twins who took an arm each again and resumed frog-marching him away.

As the hall settled back down, Penny fixed the three Canadians with a shrewd look, "You wouldn't happen to know about either of those pranks, would you?" she asked, Cedric and Matthew looking at them with a mix of interest and admiration on their faces.  
"I'm responsible for the food, I thought it only right he received a healthy _portion_ for breakfast," Harry admitted, sarcastically explaining his reasoning while Cedric and Matthew slammed their heads into the table, muttering "Why didn't _WE _think of that," to Penny's amusement.  
"The toad thing was us winging it," Dan also admitted, indicating himself and Anthony, "The twins gave us an opportunity and we to advantage."  
The group didn't notice someone else was listening and taking notes.

Penny got up with Harry and told him to wait for her in the entrance hall while she got ready for her date. Harry went to wait in the entrance hall, oblivious to the stares he was receiving from many of the current female population and that a certain blonde was following him.

As he leaned against a pillar, the blonde caught up.

"Did you have to upstage me?" a French accented voice asked in perfect English. Harry looked round to see his 'cousin' Fleur looking at him, her hands on her beautifully proportioned hips, her long silvery blonde hair hanging to her waist and her silvery blue eyes shining with annoyance and a little amusement.  
"It is not every day I perform by request," he replied in mock offence, "you of all people must understand that when a showman such as myself is requested to make a special performance, the show _must_ go on," he added switching from mock offence to a mischievous tone at the end, making Fleur's eyes shine with amusement at his theatrics.  
"True, but _I_ would have thought that _You_ would respect a fellow show woman's performance," she replied in an annoyed tone, but her face lit up in a smile that left several nearby males as vegetables, "Although I must admit it was a spectacular show," she admitted.  
"What did you think of this morning's entertainment?" Harry asked, watching in amusement as several girls tried to get their boyfriends to move or even think of moving out of the entrance hall.  
"Very ingenious," Fleur complimented, after she first met Harry she discarded the 'Ice Princess' mask she used to wear and just was herself but unlocking her mischievous side at the same time which had led to some spectacular but devastating prank wars. "His slow uptake made the result more entertaining, the prank as he was leaving was a nice touch."  
"I'll tell the other two you approve, they were winging it, they had an opportunity and took it" he replied before giving her a mischievous smile, "Would you consent to assist with the second act?" he knew the likely answer and was proven correct as her eyes shone once more.  
"Indeed I would, however rehearsal will have to wait," she replied, her eyes fixed on the staircase.  
Harry turned around to see Penelope arrive, she was dressed modestly (it wasn't cold enough for a coat but not warm enough for a shirt only) but she still managed to look amazing.

"Ready?" Penny asked, shooting a look at Fleur despite knowing about the two's relation.  
"Of course, I guess we'll have to meet up another time to discuss a joint production," he said, bowing slightly to his fellow performer/prankster.

Fleur curtseyed slightly and left the couple, who began to walk towards the main castle doors. "Do I want to know what that was about?" Penny asked.  
"Our entrance last Sunday, the performance this morning and the possibility of a future joint production," Harry replied as they began to approach Gargoyle gate.  
"As long as there is a castle still standing," Penny replied, knowing that Fleur would likely try to one-up Harry if they didn't work together, which would start a prank war.  
Harry smiled at her as the village came into sight and he started to ask her about the past few days before starting on the village.

The couple spent the morning walking between the shops, Penny taking the time to torture her boyfriend with a bit of clothes shopping, Harry got her back in the Zonko's and Gambol and Japes shops looking for prank supplies and a few gadgets.  
Lunch was eaten in the Three Broomsticks, they also spent a few hours just sitting back and drinking butterbeer, being joined by the Weasley twins and their dates Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell.  
After they left there was a trip to the Shrieking Shack, Penny kept close to Harry as they reached the fence line but Harry wasn't frightened. Rather, he was intrigued; he could smell several animal scents on the wind as it blew towards them from the Shack, both old scents and fresh, a dog and tainted wolf specifically. Penny noticed his expression, "What's wrong?"  
"I smell a wolf on the wind, old scents and fresh, it was here a few months ago," he told her, surprising her and making an unseen eavesdropper worry.  
"A wolf?" she asked, thinking hard at his nod, "Our old defence professor was a werewolf," she said, the pieces falling into place in her mind. "Snape told the school last year, what if he came here to transform."  
"Makes sense, the house is a good distance from the village and school and with the doors and windows sealed he wouldn't escape under the moon," Harry replied, thinking it over in his mind.  
"Come on, we've got to head back," he said, taking her hand and leading her back to the school.

The couple returned in time for dinner, sharing the story of their day with their friends and hearing theirs. The end of dinner was largely made up of speculative chatter over who was likely to be chosen as Champion tomorrow after breakfast. Everyone returned to their beds to an uneasy sleep, some from anticipation, others from fear.

Breakfast on the morning of the seventh day was a quiet affair, nearly everyone was too excited about the selection to talk, even the teachers and guests were quiet.  
Eventually the golden plates cleared and everyone looked to Professor Dumbledore, it was tradition for the headmaster/mistress of the host school to officiate the selection ceremony.

"The moment you've all waited for is at hand," Dumbledore announced grandly. "The Goblet of Fire has finished deliberating and is ready to present its chosen champions." He was going to continue but was cut off by the flames in the Goblet flaring and going an angry scarlet.  
The fire flared again and a piece of slightly charred parchment was shot into the air before the flames calmed and went blue again.

"The Beauxbatons champion, is Fleur Delacour," Dumbledore announced after catching and reading the parchment.  
The hall, save for a handful of Beauxbatons students who'd broken into tears, cheered as the beautiful blonde rose and walked to the side chamber Dumbledore indicated with Madame Maxine.

The Goblet flared and went red a second time as another parchment was sent flying. Dumbledore turned to the students in blood red robes, "The Durmstrang champion, is Viktor Krum."  
A roar rose from the Durmstrang students as Krum stood up and shouted "Durmstrang!" before following his headmaster into the side chamber.

The tension in the hall was thick enough to cut as everyone waited for the final selection. The Goblet flared red a final time and the last parchment was thrown out.  
"The Hogwarts champion, is Cedric Diggory," Dumbledore announced, smiling as the Hufflepuff table erupted in cheers and whistles.  
Cedric rose to a chorus of "Good luck" from the Canadians and his housemates.

Harry tuned out after that and stared at his girlfriend, who was sitting opposite him, with a look on his face that many bachelors considered a symptom of _'Lovesickness'_ until a red glow on the wall drew his attention back to the Goblet and a dumbstruck Dumbledore. The old wizard stepped up to the ancient artefact as the flames burned angrily, bathing the entire hall in a bloody red before a single charred parchment was cast out of the brim.

The entire hall watched with bated breath as the aged man grasped the parchment, his old face suddenly turning white as he read the name on the parchment.  
Fear flooded Harry's veins as the aged wizard looked up and swept his gaze over the sea of faces before him, repeating silently a single name, his face displaying a mixture of shock, disbelief and, to everyone's shock, helplessness.  
He finally decided to voice the name that seemed to haunt him…

"Harry Potter."


	4. Chapter 4

Missing Son

Chapter 4

"Harry Potter?"

The entire Hall sat shocked as the name was read out, disbelief clouding Everyone's minds.

'_It's a joke'_ Evan thought, not quite comprehending what he'd heard, _'It's got to be a joke. A sick, twisted joke. It can't be real… it just can't.'  
_Isabella was thinking along the same lines as her brother; _'It can't be real… he can't be here… it's not real, it's not him'._  
Lily couldn't believe what she'd heard and like her children thought it was someone's idea of a joke, but a part of her hoped it was true, that Harry was here.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore shouted, this time getting a response, negative though it was.

"How can a dead man enter his name?" shouted one of the Canadian's, bringing everyone out of their trances and making them think about the question.

"His name would not have been produced by the Goblet if he was deceased," Dumbledore affirmed, his eyes searching the hall.

Harry looked at Penny to find her staring at him, distress displayed for all to see. He turned to Dumbledore and spoke, "How can that name come from the Goblet, when its owner was stripped of his right to use it?" Shocking everyone in the hall and making many purebloods pale at the implications given how long rumours of the third child had been circulating.

Dumbledore blinked as he looked towards the approximate source of the voice, he genuinely hadn't considered that line of thought before, "The Goblet accepts both birth and given names as long as the individual is alive," he explained, an unidentifiable emotion entering his voice.

Harry turned back to Penny she was shaking her head, pleading him not to go. "They've taken my name, my heritage, my humanity and now my free will, if I don't stand up they'll take my life, what's left of it anyway," he told her as he stood up, keenly aware that all eyes in the hall were upon him now.

He took out his wand and placed the tip on the edge of his palm, "I, Harrison James Phoenix-Potter, Solemnly swear on my life and magic, that I did not enter my name into the Goblet of Fire, and that I did not consent to my name being entered in any way by another party," Harry declared, drawing the tip harshly across his palm, blood splattering on the floor from the wound.

There was a flash of silver light as the oath took hold and Harry raised his wand and cast the most powerful spell he knew: _"Expecto Patronum!"_

Everyone in the hall watched in astonishment as three life-sized corporeal Patroni burst from the raised wand tip. A silver phoenix flew into the air and began circling the assembled staff and students, while a large Grim and Werewolf charged past a stunned Dumbledore before turning and prowling the hall.

Dumbledore stared at this young man in disbelief as he walked forwards, the Grim and Werewolf patroni falling into step beside him. He snapped out of his trance when the man stopped in front of him and held out his hand for the parchment from the Goblet. Dumbledore gave Harry the parchment, intrigued by how he frowned when he read the name, obviously not the boy's handwriting.

Harry then looked up to Dumbledore, an odd mix of hostile emotions flashing in his eyes as Dumbledore waved him to the side chamber before turning to address the schools as Harry left him.

It was cold in the older of the two trophy rooms, despite the fire roaring in the grate. The other three champions were standing close to the fire to keep warm, talking a little to each other as they waited with Madame Maxine and Karkaroff.

Fleur glanced at the stairs and saw Harry, "What is it? Do they want us in the Hall?" she asked before noticing the parchment in Harry's hand. "Non, C'est impossible," she said quietly as Harry reached the fire. "How did your name come out of the Goblet?"

"I don't know, and I just swore a magical oath in front of the whole hall that I didn't do it or ask someone else to," Harry replied grimly as the tournament officials entered with a few teachers including professor Dubec, Dumbledore seemed to be arguing with a woman at the top of the stairs. 'Probably Mrs Potter' Harry realised as the aging wizard closed the door and warded it to keep people out before joining everyone else.

"What is the meaning of this?" Karkaroff demanded.

"Well, incredible as it seems, Harry's name has just come out of the Goblet, that makes him the fourth Tri-wizard Champion," one of the officials, Bagman, explained.

"Very funny, Mister Bagman," Madame Maxine said.

"Funny?" Bagman blinked, "It's no joke, his name came out of the Goblet."

"But 'E is too young," Madame Maxine protested, Karkaroff looked like he agreed with her.

"It is amazing," Bagman conceded, rubbing his neck nervously, "but I don't think there can be any backing out at this stage."

"There is none," the second official declared, he was a strict looking and impeccably dressed man with a toothbrush moustache that Harry thought made him look like Hitler. "The rules are clear, Harry's name came out of the Goblet, he MUST compete."

Harry bit back the urge to say _"Zieg Heil"_ and salute as Karkaroff made his displeasure known; "This is most unjust, Hogwarts cannot have TWO Champions. I insist on a resubmission of our students names until all schools have two Champions." He demanded angrily, Madame Maxine nodding in agreement as Fleur and Viktor shook their heads.

"That is impossible, the Goblets gone out and it won't reignite until the next tournament," Bagman explained exasperatedly.

"Which Durmstrang will not be competing in, after all our negotiations and concessions you commit this injustice," Karkaroff shouted angrily.

"There is no injustice you blind fool," Harry told him coldly, Karkaroff flinched away from the teen before glaring back and went to say something but was cut off. "I'm a Canadian citizen and enrolled in Vancouver, I WILL NOT be competing under Hogwarts' banner. I will compete under Vancouver's; each school has ONE Champion so your protests are nothing but the whining of a pup."

Karkaroff looked ready to commit murder, but Madame Maxine brought up another point, "Why 'ave you not questioned this? Surely you can see he could not have entered 'is name on 'is own?"

"Harry just swore a magical oath in front of the whole hall that he neither entered his name nor consented for another to do so, the fact he is not only alive but still capable of magic should prove his innocence," Professor Dubec answered her.

"We can discuss _that_ matter in private, Vincent, for now let us continue with the official business of the tournament," Dumbledore said, giving Dubec a look.

"Yes, indeed we must press on, right Barty?" Bagman said in a cheery voice, looking to his colleague.

The second official cleared his throat before started what sounded like a very rehearsed speech, "The first task will take place on the 24th of November, and is designed to test your daring and courage in the face of the unknown. You are not allowed to accept help from your teachers or the Tournament officials," he informed them before stepping back.

Dumbledore then asked the other heads to meet him in his office in ten minutes before dismissing the Champions.

The four returned to the Great Hall to find it empty, the students having been dismissed earlier, and crossed it in silence.

They found several professors milling about in the entrance hall and a few forming a cordon at the grand staircase, and a single student waiting for Harry. They bid each other goodnight and went their separate ways, Harry went to the waiting student as the others returned to their quarters.

"They're making you compete, aren't they?" Penny asked fearfully, tears in her eyes.  
"I don't have a choice, I have to compete or I'll die," he replied as she threw her arms around him.  
"It's not fair," she said as she cried into his shoulder, Harry rubbing soothing circles on her back.  
"I know, but I can't change that," Harry said gently.  
"Please be careful," Penny asked him.  
"I'll try, but the Tournament was halted for a reason," he said, giving her a hug before letting her go.

Harry waited in the Entrance Hall, watching Penelope pass the cordon of teachers and start climbing the Grand Staircase before beginning his journey back to the plane and ultimately the on board library, he knew he wasn't going to sleep tonhight.


	5. Chapter 5

Missing Son

Chapter 5

Harry didn't sleep that night, or the next, or the night after that, in fact, Anthony and Hayley had to stun him and force a Dreamless Sleep potion down his throat to make him sleep before he died of exhaustion.

It helped but his insomnia remained for the rest of the week, where the Hogwarts healer, Madame Pomfrey, discovered his condition was only natural in part, the recent revelation to the world was the main problem but someone had cast an Insomnia hex on him in concert with a few lesser known Dark Art spells designed to kill him through exhaustion.

The rest of the fortnight after the Champions selection was largely made up of Harry and his friends attending classes and conducting research into the past Tournament tasks, while trying to ignore the stares and whispers of the rest of the student population.

However, what surprised Harry most was that he hadn't been approached by his former family or a third party on their behalf. He did notice his brother and sister watching him sometimes in the halls; his mother had made no attempt to approach him.

And every time he saw them, they wore the same expression: confusion, longing and hurt. Not what he was expecting, but he now wondered _WHAT_ he was expecting as it wasn't this.

The uneasy routine Harry had settled into was broken exactly a fortnight after his name came out of the Goblet as he was talking to Penelope about exactly what happened in a joint potions class.

"So Karkaroff thought you would compete for Hogwarts?" Penny asked, still slightly confused by that point and one other.  
"Yes, but that's understandable because in an older version of the rules anyone selected who wasn't part of the student body of the three schools but otherwise eligible had to compete under the host school's banner," Harry explained as he checked the instructions for the next step of their potion, Snape having been replaced by Andromeda Tonks as both potions mistress and head of Slytherin house the previous day.  
"But why did Dumbledore lie about why your name was chosen?" she asked again.  
Harry gave her a look and handed her the parchment that had come from the Goblet.  
Penny read it and gasped, it read:

_Harry Phoenix-Potter  
_The Boy Who Lived

The second line was clearly written but the name was not, I appeared to have been formed by the parchment itself being discoloured to form the words.  
"You were right," Penny said faintly, as Harry nodded grimly.  
"No one but the Tournament officials would know he was lying, and he couldn't stand up and say '_I'm sorry but I made a mistake 13 years ago, Harry's the saviour of our world,_ can he?" Harry continued as he added the next ingredient and started stirring again.  
"I suppose not, but why hasn't he said something to you though?" she wondered. Harry shrugged as the door opened admitting a mousy haired third year.

"Excuse me, Professor Tonks, but Mister Pott… I mean Phoenix is needed by the Headmaster, official Tournament business I was told," the boy said, changing his wording as Harry grimaced.

"Thank you Mister Creevey, you may go mister Phoenix," professor Tonks said, excusing the aforementioned pupil.

"I'll see you at lunch," Harry told Penny as he packed his equipment away and left to follow the small third year. The two walked in silence for several minutes until they reached the stairs out of the dungeon.  
"I take it the other Champions will be there?" Harry asked the smaller boy, letting him go first up the narrow staircase.  
"I think so," he replied, "It's an official ceremony or at least that's what I'm told. Oh, there's a reporter for the _Daily Prophet_ as well."  
"Great," Harry muttered sarcastically, "just what I need, my private life laid out for all to see."  
The boy gave him a sympathetic smile as they reached the Entrance hall.  
"Your entrance the other week was pretty cool, the four phoenixes flying in," the boy began.  
"It's the first time in centuries more than one magical animagus has attended the same school, as students or staff, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin were the last being a Nemean lion and Basilisk respectively," Harry told him, smiling proudly.  
"Wow, I never knew that," the boy said in amazement.  
"You wouldn't, you won't get access to those books until you begin looking at human transfiguration in sixth year," Harry explained.  
"So, why do your forms look different? As far as anyone here knew there is only one type of phoenix?" the boy asked.  
"Originally it was believed there was a different species of phoenix for each element, Air, Ice, Fire, Lightning, but that isn't true. There is only one phoenix element, fire, and all phoenixes share the same abilities, the difference is largely cosmetic. They look different because they live in different parts of the world and adapted.

The Ice phoenix lives in the Arctic and can occasionally be seen in the Antarctic and evolved white feathers as a form of camouflage, they have a natural resistance to the cold.

The storm phoenix lives in the Rocky Mountains and often flies in the storm fronts that cross the mountains, they evolved a dark blue plumage and are unique in that they can build up a static charge in their feathers and discharge it at a target they choose.

The Royal Phoenix however is a mystery, and as far as I know it's a royal purple coloured fire phoenix that's a bit bigger than the rest, they only appear to those they deem worthy.

As for how four phoenix animagi ended up in the same school, in the same year as classmates? I can't count high enough to even guess the odds but it happened anyway," Harry said, enjoying the amazement shine on Creevey's face as he explained.

The two settled into silence again as they went up the Grand staircase and onto the second floor, stopping outside a previously disused classroom from which several voices could be heard.

"Thanks," Harry said to Creevey.

"Don't mention it," Creevey replied before turning and heading back to class.

Harry took a deep breath, opened the door and walked through. The majority of the desks and chairs had been piled against one wall except for the long desks placed end to end where the judges were now sitting and a single desk to one side at a perpendicular angle with a chair, there were several more chairs lined against the opposite wall.

Most of the officials and the headmasters were gathered by the table, a short scruffy man in dark robes and a battered fedora holding a slightly smoking camera was seated away from everyone shooting looks at Fleur every so often, next to him was a woman with her blonde hair in rigid (ironclad would be more accurate) curls in red robes with large jewelled glasses, a notebook and an acid green quill who had gone from watching the other Champions to eyeing him.

Fleur, Cedric and Viktor were standing next to the fireplace talking to each other; Harry started to walk over to them but was blocked by Ludo Bagman.

"Harry, glad you could finally join us," Bagman said in a cheery voice. "Today is the 'Weighing of the Wands' ceremony where your wand will be inspected for condition and function by an expert," he informed Harry, indicating an old man with grey hair and silver eyes at the end.

"Then there will be a photo session as Rita Skeeter, here, will be writing a small article for the _Daily Prophet_," Bagman continued, indicating the woman with the blonde hair.

"Maybe not _so_ small, Ludo," the woman replied, Harry noticed her eying him like a choice cut of meat.

"Well, as everyone is now here we should begin," Bagman continued, talking to the room at large as Harry edged away from the reporter.

The judges and officials took their seats at the long table, while the reporter and photographer took seats against the wall as the Champions moved in front of the judges table and Mister Ollivander's desk.

"Ladies first to begin, I think?" Mr Ollivander said, looking to Fleur as he did.  
Fleur walked over to the aged wand crafter and presented her wand.  
"Ah, yes," Ollivander said quietly, twirling the wand like a baton before holding it steady and running his fingers very carefully over the surface and carefully examining it. "Nine and one half inches, with a Rosewood body and containing a core of… dear me."  
"An 'air from ze 'ead of a Veela," Fleur said proudly, "one of my Grandmuzzers."  
"Indeed," Ollivander agreed. "I don't normally use Veela hair myself, I find it to be a temperamental substance to use as a core but this obviously works very well for you," he continued, returning Fleur's wand.

Fleur returned to her seat smiling at Harry as she passed, Cedric was called forward as she sat down.

"Ah," Ollivander said as Cedric handed him his wand. "This is one of mine, I think. I remember it well, the tail hair in the core came from a magnificent male unicorn, must have been seventeen hands, and he nearly gored me with his horn when I plucked his tail. Twelve and one quarter inches long, with an ash body, pleasantly springy and in fine condition, you treat it regularly?" he continued before turning to Cedric.  
"Polished it last night," Cedric answered.

"Indeed, Avis!" Ollivander continued, making a small flock of canaries burst from the end of the wand and circle his head like a small feathery model of the solar system.

"Excellent," Ollivander said, returning Cedric's wand. He turned to look at the Bulgarian teen, "Mr Krum?"

Viktor Krum walked over to Mr Ollivander. He thrust out his wand and stood scowling, with his hands in the pockets of his robes.

"Hmm," said Mr Ollivander, "this is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I'm much mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I…"

He lifted the wand and examined it minutely, turning it over and over before his eyes.

"Yes...hornbeam and dragon heartstring?" he shot at Krum, who nodded. "Rather thicker than one usually sees...quite rigid...ten and a quarter inches..."

He then fired several silver smoke rings across the room.

"Good," Mr Ollivander said, handing back Krum's wand, "Which now leaves Mr Potter,"

Harry stood up and walked over, drawing both his wands from the duelling bracers he wore, before handing both to Mr Ollivander.

"Two wands? Surely that is against the rules," Karkaroff said immediately.

"The rules state that he must be equipped with a functioning wand, there is no restriction on how many may be carried," Mr Crouch rebuffed.

Ollivander shot Karkaroff a nasty look as the man grumbled, before turning to the first of Harry's wands.

"Eleven inches… Holly… Tail feather of a Phoenix, one of two brothers… nice and supple," he said, before turning a chair into a kitten and back, "It's in excellent shape, now… let's look at this… unusual specimen."

Harry gulped as Ollivander turned everyone's attention to his second wand; it was unusual because he'd made it himself as part of the extra-curricular Enchanting course he was taking, which included how to enchant weapons and armour and more mundane things and to craft staves and wands.

"Very unusual, main body appears to be forged from Blue Steel with the core encased in Ebony that possesses an unusually high magical charge," Ollivander commented, his eyebrows disappearing into his hair as he examined a successful hybridisation of two normally incompatible crafts.

"How can a wand be made of metal? Aren't metal bodies for wands magically inert?" Rita asked, her Quick Quotes quill forgotten at this news.

"Yes, but metal _can_ be used as a conduit for magic, a medium to carry a magical charge, a task for which normal wand woods are poorly suited. Metal can't be used to amplify a magical charge drawn from a person's magical core whereas wood can," Ollivander explained, his expression clearly showing that he'd never considered this _particular_ solution before. "By using a normal wand wood to encase the core it acts as a normal amplifier which then passes the magic to the metal body for discharge," he continued, "Expensive, but ingenious."

"14 inches long… the core is made of… a Phoenix feather and a werewolf fang suspended in dragon's blood… inflexible, but resilient… suited to Offensive and Defensive combat magic, warding and curse breaking," he said, carefully inspecting the finely crafted exterior body.

"Reducto!" a red spell shot from Harry's wand and reduced a desk to dust and the one behind it as well.

"Incredible," Ollivander said, smiling. "I look forward to seeing what you can do with this wand, Mr Potter."

Harry nodded as Ollivander returned his wand; he then walked back to his spot next to Fleur which was when Dumbledore stepped forward.

Dumbledore suggested heading to lunch, but was cut off by Bagman who announced that the photos for the article had to be taken.

The photos took some time as initially the photographer had difficulty getting Madame Maxime in the picture, the Rita and her photographer had a little argument over who should be the most prominent of the Champions, Fleur or Harry, and then there were brief interviews with the Champions.

Rita had tried to make Harry talk about his family, his attitude to them, his feelings on their betrayal, but he'd forced her to stick to the tournament and to use a regular quill, he'd also agreed to do an interview with regards to his family and the revealing of his identity during the next Hogsmeade visit as long as she reported the honest truth and again used a regular quill to do so.

Rita's eyes flashed brightly and a 'cat who got the cream' smile slid across her face as she made her exit, making Harry shiver slightly.

He shook his head to clear it after the reporter left; he then turned to his fellow Champions and told them he was going for a walk to think before heading down to the kitchens for dinner and said goodbye.

He spent the next hour wandering the corridors on the Third floor, learning his way around and discovering several of the hidden passageways.

Roughly half an hour into dinner, he was disturbed by a muffled cry, a burst of scarlet light down a side corridor and a lot of scuffling.

He turned into the side corridor to see the door on one of the spare Charms classrooms close with a bang and a locking ward go up as well as a crude silencing ward.

He drew his wand and approached the door, straining his hearing to understand what was being said on the other side:

"What are you doing? Let me go…" an eerily familiar girl's voice.

"No chance… this is my chance to claim what's rightfully mine… what I've been denied, what _you've_ denied…" a male voice responded, again familiar but this time unwelcome.

It was Ron Weasley.

"What do you…" there was a brief silence, then a brief shriek and the sound of several ropes wrapping around something then pulling tight. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" the girl screamed.

The scream came as Harry reached the door to find it not only locked and badly silenced but shielded, realisation hit him like a brick.

'Isabella' Harry realised, his mind kicking into overdrive as adrenaline flooded his veins.

"I am claiming what is rightfully mine," Weasley replied, a soft ripping sound followed.

Harry's eyes widened, "NO!" he shouted, aiming his wand at the unprotected wall next to the door.

What happened next was a blur to Harry, the next he knew he was staring at the crumpled and bloodied form of Weasley, panting hard from both exertion and anger. A soft, frightened noise to his right distracted him from the waste of humanity in front of him to his still trapped and exposed sister; he hurried over and started cutting the ropes holding her, "Are you alright?"

Isabella's mind was spinning, one moment she was walking to a secret meeting with Hermione on the third floor, the next she was hit by an _'incarcerous', _drawing her wand and misfiring a stunner as she was bound by thin but strong ropes.

A second after she fell, Ron Weasley grabbed one of the ropes and dragged her into one of the old classrooms, catching a glimpse of someone coming around the corner as she passed the door.

Ron dragged her to a spot between four heavy desks and slammed the door, putting up a locking ward and a silencing ward.

"What are you doing? Let me go…" she said, struggling against the ropes.

"No chance… This is my chance to claim what's rightfully mine…" Ron said as he returned from warding the door, "What I've been denied, what _you've_ denied…"

"What do you…" she stopped as Ron waved his wand at the ropes binding her, the ropes snapped away from her body except her wrists and ankles and wrapped loudly to the four desks and pulled tight, leaving her exposed in a spread eagle position. She gave a quick shriek as the ropes rearranged.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" she screamed, tears forming in her eyes as her heart beat like a drum in her chest.

Ron knelt between her parted legs. "I am claiming what is rightfully mine," he said calmly, he reached out and grasped the waistline of Isabella's cotton knickers and ripped them off, leaving her completely exposed to him.

Her breath hitched in her chest, her eyes widened to the size of Galleons but before she could scream, the world ended.

The wall next to the door behind Ron flew apart in a whirl of fire and thunder, ancient stones the size of Hagrid's fists were cast in all directions, many impacting the far wall, some even punched holes through it into the room next door.

Ron dived away from her as debris flew over their heads; Isabella was largely protected by the heavy wooden desks Ron had used to tie her down with.

As the debris settled, Isabella looked up to find Ron nursing a battered arm while lying on the ground several feet away, and to a sight that filled her with fear but somehow also gave her hope and relief.

Harry Phoenix-Potter was standing in the large hole created by the blast, his wand in his hand and aimed straight at Weasley, but that wasn't all.

His emerald eyes glowed unnaturally as flames wreathed his body, flames the seemed to travel over every inch of his body and do nothing, she could also make out a ghostly shape around his body but under the flames that looked like armour.

Ron rose and shouted something unintelligible. Harry stepped into the room and sent an unknown spell at Ron who barely dodged. He then said something to Ron in a strange language, before bellowing a curse that sent Ron flying into the stone wall behind him, she could hear her ex's bones break before he hit the wall which partially collapsed around him.

For a few seconds she just watched Harry stand there, he was breathing hard but it slowly steadied; the glow in his eyes began to fade until it was gone, the ghostly armour disappeared and the fierce flames wrapped around him went out.

He continued to stand there for a few moments until a small frightened squeak from Isabella brought him out of whatever trance he was in.

He turned to look at her and his eyes filled with concern, strode over to her and started to cut the ropes holding her with his wand. "Are you alright?"

For a moment, Isabella could only stare at her lost brother, unsure of how to handle this as until now there'd been no form of interaction between them at all. She quickly pulled herself together, "I'm alright, just a bit shaken," she said, rubbing her wrists and ankles as she was freed. "You came in before… before…"

Isabella burst into tears as the enormity of what she'd just narrowly escaped came crashing down on her. Her shoulders shook violently as great sobs overtook her, which stopped briefly as Harry pulled her into a tight hug and started rubbing calming circles into her back as he sang an old half-forgotten lullaby to her, just as he had many years before in the darkest hour of a terrible thunderstorm. Her breath hitched in her throat as she felt that same strange wave of magic wash over her as it did years ago, causing that same indescribably warm feeling to fill her chest, for a moment she as back in Potter Hall with thunder and lightning clashing outside her bedroom window as her older brother Harry sang to her holding her close as he did, making her feel loved and protected.

She sniffed and sobbed one last time as the magic took hold and settled herself into her brother's arms, nuzzling into his chest slightly, "I missed you, Harry," she whispered.

Those words made a cold feeling run through his body, he didn't miss his old family, truthfully he felt nothing good or bad for them, except for Isabella, Belle was the one he missed, only Belle.

"I missed you too, Belle," Harry told her, making her brighten up at the old nickname, before adding, "Only you."

She looked up at him, "Only me?"

"Yeah, after the… incident, I felt betrayed, unwanted, alone. Later on I felt angry, but through it all I could never think ill of you, I always wanted to find you again, just to see you one last time, you're the one I missed," Harry explained, finally admitting not only to his sister but himself there was someone he missed from his old life.

"Why did you stay away so long? Did you ever intend to come back?" she asked.

"No, I never intended to return, at times I wanted to, I wondered if you would take me back, but what happened always overshadowed it," he stopped to consider his next words.

"Do you what it was like? What happened? Do you even know what they did?"

Isabella shook her head, she was suddenly afraid of what she might hear.

"Disowning someone is when a witch or wizard's magic is separated from a Families magic, usually permanently but someone can be reinstated if both parties agree," Harry explained, his face and voice neutral before turning grave. "If it's done to a child younger than eleven… it destabilises their magical core."

Isabella gasped loudly, provoking a groan in reply from the battered weasel.

"We'd better continue this later," Harry said, send a look of utter and complete contempt to Weasley, "I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing."

Isabella squeaked as Harry slid his arms under her and lifted her up, "I'm perfectly fine, I don't need to see the nurse."

"I don't trust that weasel," Harry stated, shifting her in his arms as he carried her bridal style to the hole in the wall and outside of the botched wards Ron put up, "and I won't be satisfied until a qualified medi-witch or wizard gives you the all clear."

Isabella pouted as Harry steadied himself and her. "That pout didn't work ten years ago young lady and it won't work now, no matter how much cuter you've gotten," Harry scolded in a good imitation of his former godfather.

Isabella blushed violently as Harry got ready to go, pouting again as he transported them both into the Hospital Wing.

Isabella held tight to her brother as the feeling of disorientation faded, her glasses slightly askew and her hair all over the place, she looked up to her brother in bewilderment, he smiled down at her, "First time flaming in?"

Isabella's answer was cut off by the appearance of Madame Pomfrey, "What in Merlin's name is going on?"

"We flamed in," Harry told her, placing his sister on the nearest bed, "Stay," he said firmly, making Isabella huff in annoyance, "Ron Weasley ambushed her on the Third floor during dinner and…" he swallowed as he faltered on the words, "…he tried to rape her."

Madame Pomfrey's face went white and then stony as Isabella looked ashamed, Pomfrey bustled to Isabella's side and began cast diagnostic spells.

Harry went to move away but a small, slender hand shot and grabbed his wrist, he turned and looked down to the hand stopping him and then looked up into a pair of scared hazel eyes, "Please don't leave."

"I won't Belle, not now," he said settling into a chair next to the bed and holding her hand until Madame Pomfrey pulled out the screens to perform a physical examination, where he settled into a chair on the other side of the room to wait, falling into an uneasy sleep as he waited.


	6. Chapter 6

Missing Son

Chapter 6

Harry was disturbed from his uneasy sleep by Madame Pomfrey removing the screens after her examination of Isabella. He changed seats so that he was sitting next to Belle's bedside before dozing off again.

He awoke sometime later to soft giggling and a silky weight on his chest, he opened his eyes to find that he'd slumped back in his chair and settled close enough to the bed for Isabella to roll over and use him for a pillow, with her long, silky hair draped over his shoulder and chest, as he watched she mumbled something and nuzzled into his chest to get comfortable again.

Harry looked up as the giggling started again, to find Penny at the foot of the bed, with Madame Pomfrey behind her, with an _'Aww, So cute!'_ look on her face.

Harry looked back down to his sister to find her nuzzling his chest again.

"Overgrown kitten," he mumbled fondly, he was about to say something to Penny when Isabella purred loudly.

Penny burst into louder giggles that disturbed Belle making her roll over and off Harry, who took the opportunity to escape.

He got up and walked over to Penny and Madame Pomfrey, the former having a look on her face that said she wasn't going to let him forget this, he looked to Madame Pomfrey, "How long was I out?"

"It's been just under an hour since you came in, I've called the Aurors and they should be here shortly, I've also just informed Professor McGonagall and Master DuBec," Pomfrey said, causing Penny to look between them in confusion.  
"Aurors? Why did you call the Aurors? Does this have anything to do with your sister?" Penny asked.  
Harry opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by the Hospital wing doors opening with a bang.

Sirius Black had had some pretty bad days since he'd joined the Auror Corps, with most of them being from the last war or during clean up for that conflict, there were only two exceptions:

When his godson had been disowned and had gone missing ten years ago.

And today, control had just been fire-called by the Hogwarts matron, Madame Pomfrey, that an attempted rape had been narrowly prevented in the school…

And the victim was his honorary goddaughter, Isabella.

It had taken 15 minutes for the call to get from control to his desk, another 10 to get his team ready, and another 15 to get to Hogsmeade and up to the school.

He was currently leading a team of three through the Entrance Hall and to the grand staircase, behind him was his recently graduated cousin Nymphadora Tonks, Junior Auror Hestia Jones and Auror Sergeant Jonathon York (a Pre-war veteran who survived intact), the former two looked curious while York was grim, being the only one who'd heard the charge from Sirius.

Just as they made it onto the first floor, they ran into a distraught Professor McGonagall.

"Sirius? Thank goodness you're here, are you…" she began before Sirius strode past and motioned for her to follow.  
"Heading to the hospital wing? Yes, I want to make sure she's safe before finding that bottom feeder," Sirius growled, York had a similar expression as McGonagall fell into step beside him while Tonks and Jones still looked confused.  
"I'm sorry for not being there already, but when I was told… I just froze, I couldn't believe it," McGonagall said as they passed two prefects on patrol.  
"I know, I was the same but I snapped out of it pretty quickly," Sirius replied reassuringly, McGonagall smiled at him in gratitude.

They continued in silence until they were halfway across the floor and less than one hundred yards from the hospital wing.

"Sirius?"

Sirius signalled York to continue with the other two before stopping with Minerva, Lily was walking along a side corridor to meet them.

"Can you handle this, I need to start the investigation," he asked Minerva who waved him off.

Sirius jogged away to catch up to his team, catching only a little of the conversation; "Minerva, have you seen Isabella? She was supposed to meet a friend before dinner…"

He found York waiting with Tonks and Jones at the doors, he took position at the opposite door to York and put his hand on the handle when there was a loud, high scream from behind them, he looked to York and nodded and they opened the doors together, although with a bit more force than necessary.

Harry, Penny and Madame Pomfrey turned around as the doors banged open, four Aurors stepping through, Harry noted the section/team leader was his former godfather who had a lieutenant's bar on his blue auror robes, the second man had two dozen medal ribbons on the breast of his dark blue robes and the single gold chevron on the cuff in the pre-war style indicating a sergeant, while the two women were rookies.

"How is the patient?" Sirius asked, fully professional at this point.

"She is perfectly fine, I have completed an examination and have a copy of the results for you, when she wakes you may conduct an interview if I'm present," Madame Pomfrey replied professionally too, but her face became anxious immediately afterward and she looked to Harry who was talking to Penny, "If Harry hadn't been where he was and acted as fast as he did…"

"It's not worth thinking about," Sirius said softly, taking in the face of his missing godson, thankful beyond anything he was there and did act.

Harry noticed Sirius looking at him, "Do you need help finding that scum? I kind of left him bleeding in a bomb crater," Harry said, looking a little sheepish for forgetting that fact.

"It might be best, can you take Sergeant York to him, I'll send a patronus asking to use a cell in the dungeons in the meantime," Sirius replied, forcing himself to remain professional despite his heart yearning for him to talk to his godson.

Harry looked to York, who nodded, "It would be quickest if I flamed you to him, I'm a phoenix animagus," Harry said, quickly explaining at York's confused look. York nodded again and Harry held his arm and the two disappeared in a burst of flames.

The two reappeared outside the shattered wall of the classroom where Filch was grouching and Professors Flitwick, Sprout and Tonks were trying to help Weasley, remove the wards and repair the wall.

"Step away from him, Ma'am, he's a wanted felon who is the chief suspect in an attempted rape," York said loudly, striding over to where Professor Sprout was attempting to heal Weasley, who had lost a fair amount of blood by now.

"What? Ridiculous, Weasley may not be the most pleasant person but he'd never…" Sprout tried to defend the gryffindor's reputation but was cut off by Harry.

"I did that," Harry pointed to both damaged walls, "to stop him from raping a girl, half a second later and I would have been too late."

The three professors paled at the thought as York made sure Weasley was stable and put magic suppressing handcuffs on him.

"I'm going to take him to the Ministry," York stated, looking at Harry.

Harry got the message, "I'll tell Black when I get back," Harry said nodding to the Auror who levitated the still unconscious teen and began to walk him out of the room.

"You weren't wrong about the crater," York muttered as he passed Harry.

Harry gave one last look at the damage he did and then stepped out into the corridor, not noticing the teacher's curious and slightly disbelieving looks. It wasn't common knowledge but the internal architecture of Hogwarts was very heavily protected and it was not easy to knock down or rearrange the walls on any floor.

Harry flamed back into the hospital wing from the corridor, when he arrived he didn't notice there were a couple more people in the room, instead zeroing in on Sirius Black.

"York cuffed him and took him to the Ministry, he was in pretty bad shape so I think York wanted him in a cell with Ministry personnel nearby just in case," Harry reported to Black, who nodded.

"Thank you, I'll have Jones check in to make sure Weasley arrived," Sirius replied, motioning for Auror Jones to use the floo. "I'll need to take a statement from you," Sirius continued, summoning a notebook and ballpoint pen.

Harry began at the point where he left the Tournament ceremony and began wandering the third floor, hearing Ron ambush Isabella, the misfired stunner, the door slamming and the wards going up, and what he overheard as he reached the door.

This provoked a frightened squeak from Isabella, who was immediately bundled up in a hug by her mother.

And then he stopped, he explained that his mind was a blank between shouting and staring down at weasel as he bled in a pile of rubble, and then cutting Isabella free after hearing her make a noise, he then told them how he comforted her before bringing her to the Hospital wing.

Isabella looked at Harry with an unreadable expression before speaking, "When you came in, you were wreathed in flames, there were strange shapes under the flames like armour and your eyes were glowing brightly," she said, drawing everyone's attention and making Penny stare in alarm.

Harry looked surprised and alarmed, but calmed down after a moment, "I'm ok, Penny," he said to his girlfriend, but both knew he'd pay for using so much power later.

"So what was that?" Isabella asked before Lily told her not to ask.

"Something that happens when I'm angry, I mean really angry and it causes a strain on my magic, which affects my health," Harry explained, but everyone knew this wasn't the whole truth.

"Does this have anything to do with you being disowned?" Isabella asked. Lily's eyes went wide.

"Isabella!" she scolded, Isabella ducked her head and looked ashamed and said "Sorry."

"Unfortunately," Harry replied, making both Lily and Isabella stare at him.

"Has anyone told James?" Professor McGonagall asked in an effort to change the subject, making Sirius and Isabella suddenly afraid.

"I took the call so he wouldn't be told," Sirius admitted, looking very uncomfortable as Isabella hid under the bed covers.

"Why do I feel like I should find a steel helmet and flak jacket," Harry wondered aloud, suddenly very afraid of his birth father's reaction.

"You're not the only one," Penny, Sirius and Tonks muttered in agreement.

"I think I've got enough, I'll just need Isabella's statement and then we can work on getting him from a cell to a courtroom," Sirius said, finishing taking notes, before thanking Harry and heading over to Isabella.

Everyone waited and Listened as Isabella told her side of the story: from her meeting with Hermione, to Ron's ambush, then what Ron said as he tied her up, then him exposing her, then Harry rescuing her, bringing her up to the hospital wing and staying with her during and after the examination.

Lily smiled gratefully at Harry when she heard that.

"As if I would walk away," Harry said firmly, "despite everything you're my little sister, I won't leave you to a fate like that."

"I think I have enough," Sirius said, trying to finish and prevent an awkward moment. "I'll head in and file the report. Jones, I want you outside guarding the door, Tonks, you'll stay with Ms Potter," he ordered.

"Yes Sir!" both Junior Aurors replied and went to their posts.

Harry went to sit on the bed next to Isabella's, and looked at his little sister, "feeling better now, Belle?"

Lily smiled as she heard the old nickname, faintly remembering how he always calmed Isabella's fears using that name.

"Better now," she told him.

"Do you still need me to stay, or can I grab something from the kitchens? I did miss dinner for you and there isn't a cure for hospital food yet," Harry asked, joking at the end to try and lighten the mood.

Belle giggled a little at his joke, "Will you come back?" she asked, her eyes showed her fear of losing her big brother again.

"As long as you want me to," Harry said, giving her a quick hug before heading for the door, he missed Belle's embarrassed but happy grin and Lily's relief and happy smile.

Harry spent his trip to the kitchens talking to Penny, hoping to get an idea of what his feelings were now and how he wanted to proceed, but he did decide to spend the night keeping his sister company.

Penny insisted on staying with him however, she claimed that she wanted to support her boyfriend; Harry knew it was so she had more blackmail material of cute moments with Isabella.

Harry and Penny stayed with Isabella with Madame Pomfrey's permission, and they spent a long time learning about each other, from Harry's classes to tastes in music and even his favourite quidditch team.

It was ten o'clock at night when an alarmed noise echoed from the grand staircase.

"Bar the door!" Harry shouted to Tonks, drawing his wand. She ran over and slid the bolt while Harry transfigured two discarded pencils into thick steel bars that were wedged into two sets of Brackets Tonks transfigured onto the back of the door.

Tonks stepped back and to the side of the door while Harry put his shoulder to it and listened through the wood.

He heard something striking stone hard repeatedly, fainter but growing louder. "Is that… hooves?" Harry thought as the sound came closer, reaching a peak as whatever it was entered the corridor.

Auror Jones shouted a challenge but it was ignored, Harry braced himself as the sound of hooves thundered closer. There was a brief break in the noise when…

THUD!

Harry felt the door move and the steel bars strain as a fairly heavy weight slammed into the far side, and then rebounded.

There was a muffled yell from Jones and a very painful groan in a deep male voice, but they were interrupted by a flash of green light and a roar of flames from Madame Pomfrey's office, which drew everyone's attention as two men rushed out of the floo.

"Poppy! James just heard, he's on his way here… oh," Sirius Black stepped out of the office looking around wildly for the matron to find the door barred and both Poppy and Tonks aiming at it while Harry was against the door.

"Judging by the thud, he's already here," Harry deadpanned, stopping as the pitiful moans continued, just load enough for everyone to hear.

"Ouch," the other man said quietly.

"Sounds like he charged the door with his head down," Sirius commented.

Harry looked his godfather in the eye, "You know what? I think he did."

There was another loud but this time human groan and a small ball of light slid under the door and floated over to Poppy before turning into a robin.

The robin opened its beak and spoke in Auror Jones' voice, "Can you open the door now Madame Pomfrey, I've got a badly concussed Potter Senior out here and I think he'll need a night in your _tender care_," you could hear the sarcasm dripping from her voice in the last two words, making Poppy grumble about ungrateful kids and Harry, Sirius and the third man smile as they knew Poppy made sure any visit was slightly unpleasant as an incentive to not get injured again.

Harry needed Tonks' help to remove the bars and Poppy had to use a very powerful unlocking charm to overcome the bent bolt, revealing a mildly amused Auror Jones and a groaning curled up mass with arms that were clutching a black mess of hair that seemed familiar.

The mass was levitated into the room and dumped unceremoniously onto one of the beds, a loud groan made Sirius and the other man grin madly, "Just like old times," Sirius whispered to his companion.

Harry went over and sat next to his sister, who whispered "daddy" in a very small and frightened voice.

"He'll be alright," Harry said to her but looked back to his birth father when she squeaked in fright to see a decent amount of blood streaming down his face, "hopefully," he added, now slightly concerned.

"He'll be fine, Poppy's healed worse than that on a full moon," Sirius said reassuringly.

"I wouldn't want to be him in the morning, I heard Pomfrey's worse in her 'preventative medicine' when the injuries self-inflicted," Harry commented, making Sirius and his friend grin madly and Isabella giggle despite her fear.

"Hey," Harry said softly, hugging her close and rubbing her back gently, "When the old man wakes up, I'll be right here."

"Thank you," Belle mumbled into his shirt.

"Penny, could you tell Professor DuBec I'll be spending the night here," he said before adding, "if I may?" to Madame Pomfrey.

"Of course, but I will insist on a separate bed," Poppy replied.

"Naturally," Harry said, transfiguring his robes into a T-shirt and pyjama bottoms and removing his shoes.

The last thing he knew before sleep claimed him was a loud groan from James Potter and moonlight reflecting off Belle's hazel eyes.

He woke the next morning to find Anthony holding a clean uniform and his mother next to Isabella.

"Morning, thought you'd need these," Anthony said, dumping the bag on the chair next to the bed, "All four schools are in an uproar after last night, the twins and Ginny are locked in a set of married quarters and Penny hexed that pompous prat Percy something awful after he dared flirt with her this morning." He pushed Harry down as Harry tried to get up and hex the prat. "He's in Mungo's, that prat just doesn't get a hint."

"Yeah, wait?" Harry stared at his friend, "The twins and Ginny are being targeted because of weasel?"

"Something about not reining the git in or not making sure he had his head on straight," Anthony said, not happy with the way the rest of Hogwarts was treating their newest friends.

They were interrupted by a loud noise from the far side of the room; it seemed that James Potter was waking up.

"I'd better get dressed, thanks by the way," Harry said.

"We'll be waiting downstairs," Anthony said as he left.

Harry went to shower in the shower rooms at the back of the hospital wing, when he came out, James was being thoroughly poked and prodded by Madame Pomfrey.

"What's the verdict?" Harry asked Isabella as he reached her, she was sitting on her bed next to her mother watching her father attempting to wriggle out of being examined.

"I'm fine and can leave anytime, but it's not every day I get to see daddy squirm in hospital," Belle replied, her mother smiling in agreement.

"Uh huh," Harry said, settling into the chair next to the bed, propping his feet up behind Belle and conjuring a bag of popcorn. "Popcorn?"

Both Isabella and Lily turned to him so fast they had to rub their necks for the pain, but both took a handful of popcorn, as did Sirius when he popped in through the floo a few minutes later, and laughed at James' indignant expression as he saw the popcorn and realised just how stupid he looked.

Lily was giggling into her hand, this was such a 'James' thing to do, Sirius's wide grin showed that he agreed with her.

They were disturbed a few minutes later when Dumbledore entered the Hospital wing.

"Good Morning Lily, Poppy," the old wizard greeted, "How is young Isabella?"

"I'm fine Headmaster, thanks to my brother," Isabella said, smiling at Harry then blushing as he shot her a very familiar grin.

"Ah yes," Albus said, the twinkle in his eyes intensifying as they settled on a pawn he thought lost forever, "I must congratulate you on protecting your sister, however I cannot condone the true extent of your actions and I have lodged a formal complaint to Master DuBec."

James, Sirius and Isabella mouthed the words 'Formal Complaint'.

"Professor, Harry prevented Weasley committing a very serious crime, while I must admit he was a little heavy handed, it was not undeserved," Poppy Pomfrey interrupted.

"Be that as it may, Harry used _excessive_ force in young Isabella's defence. Therefore I must insist on his punishment and that Mr Weasley be left alone once he returns to classes," Albus replied.

"WHAT?!" chorused several voices.

"Return to class?" James said disbelievingly.

"He will not be returning Dumbledore, if he does I will not be teaching and I will withdraw my children," Lily declared.

"And how do you intend him to return to classes?" Sirius challenged.

Dumbledore stared wide eyed at Lily for a moment, he couldn't have the Twins-Who-Lived educated anywhere but at Hogwarts, "there is no need to make hasty decisions, Lily. I'm sure that Mr Weasley will see the error in his lapse of judgment…"

"It's not exactly a state secret that he wanted my sister for his own benefits," Harry declared loudly, "In fact I was told that he was looking to make an example of her the evening we arrived."

"He is young," Dumbledore attempted to reassure Harry, "he has yet to achieve his potential, and he will not unless we forgi…"

"Forgive!" James bellowed, "Are you suggesting that I ignore the fact he assaulted my daughter and attempted to steal her virtue?"

"You propose that we just ignore this? Just slap him on the wrist and let him go?" James demanded.

Dumbledore looked very flustered but was cut off from answering by Sirius.

"He's in a Ministry holding cell and he's staying there until he's tried," Sirius declared, he knew that Dumbledore didn't have the direct authority to release Ron but could get someone else to do it given enough time.

"And I'm testifying against the rat," Harry added.

"You would condemn a misguided soul before he as a chance to repent?" Dumbledore asked.

"That 'second chance' bull of yours only works if someone wants to repent," Harry pointed out, "Besides, if the government doesn't enforce the Law and impose order there'll be anarchy, something we all hope to avoid."

Dumbledore again opened his mouth in an attempt to convince them, "Just go, Dumbledore," James said, his temper barely in check, "you aren't going to change our minds."

Dumbledore cast a sorrowful look at them all before turning to leave.

As the door shut behind the headmaster, James turned to the two of his children present, "are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Isabella reassured him, "Thanks to Harry."

"I was in the right place at the right time," Harry shrugged then shuddered "I dread to think what could have happened."

Isabella paled and Lily hugged her tight.

"So do I," Sirius and James said together.

"Shall we head down to Breakfast?" Lily suggested, trying to change the subject.

Harry and Sirius shrugged and started for the door but Harry stopped.

"Would you like me to sit with you this morning?" Harry asked Isabella.

"It's ok if you want to sit with your friends and girlfriend," Isabella said.

"I can introduce you if you like?" Harry replied.

"I'd like that," Isabella said and followed Harry out of the hospital wing, missing the happy smiles both of her parents wore.


End file.
